Rating: 
Summary: The Authenticator
Review: "The first time I saw Laura Duquesne was six months after she died." This begins the account of Theo Nikonos, a private investigator of near-death experiences. His words will keep readers enthralled until the end. The Authenticator is the second novel by William M. Valtos. Before becoming a novelist, Valtos won recognition as an editor and advertising copywriter. His first novel was made into a movie. Valtos' skills serve him well as he lets Theo describe how he found Laura, drugged and strapped to a table, in the basement of a clinic. Theo had been hired to interview Laura about her near-death experience, but he learns that she's been kept captive and tortured by someone seeking her "forbidden knowledge."
Theo accepted the job only because he needed the money, but he finds that he can't abandon the beautiful Laura, even though he doubts the story she's told him. Unfortunately for Theo, Laura's captors are equally determined to keep her, and they have lots more resources available than he does. Helping Laura also requires Theo to take a closer look at his life, including his broken marriage. He also has to deal with the fact that he's fallen in love with Laura, but her only goal is to find her husband.
From one exciting danger to the next, Valtos takes us deeper and deeper into the lives of Laura and Theo, exploring "life, death, and the darkness in between," until the shocking conclusion. The Authenticator provides readers with an engrossing adventure-mystery, but it will also leave them wondering about what really happens when we die.
Rating:
Summary: The Authenticator
Review: "The first time I saw Laura Duquesne was six months after she died." This begins the account of Theo Nikonos, a private investigator of near-death experiences. His words will keep readers enthralled until the end. The Authenticator is the second novel by William M. Valtos. Before becoming a novelist, Valtos won recognition as an editor and advertising copywriter. His first novel was made into a movie. Valtos' skills serve him well as he lets Theo describe how he found Laura, drugged and strapped to a table, in the basement of a clinic. Theo had been hired to interview Laura about her near-death experience, but he learns that she's been kept captive and tortured by someone seeking her "forbidden knowledge."
Theo accepted the job only because he needed the money, but he finds that he can't abandon the beautiful Laura, even though he doubts the story she's told him. Unfortunately for Theo, Laura's captors are equally determined to keep her, and they have lots more resources available than he does. Helping Laura also requires Theo to take a closer look at his life, including his broken marriage. He also has to deal with the fact that he's fallen in love with Laura, but her only goal is to find her husband.
From one exciting danger to the next, Valtos takes us deeper and deeper into the lives of Laura and Theo, exploring "life, death, and the darkness in between," until the shocking conclusion. The Authenticator provides readers with an engrossing adventure-mystery, but it will also leave them wondering about what really happens when we die.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent, but nothing to write home about.
Review: (Continued from the Shutter Island review) ...Contrast this to William M. Valtos' second novel, The Authenticator. Valtos falls to the left on the horizontal line, somewhat above on the vertical. He's done his research, but he doesn't show it very well. Each short chapter of this book feels more like a newspaper article, and each one has a summation of what's come before at the end. Valtos doesn't want to leave us anything to puzzle out on its own, and that is the book's main weakness. Our premise here is that Theo Nikonos, a near-death experience investigator, and Laura Duquesne, a near-death experiencer, find themselves in very hot water. Nikonos knows of Duquesne's case, but as the story opens, he's having a very hard time getting in to see her. When he finally does, he gets in a quick interview before a couple of burly hospital guards throw him out with extreme prejudice. During the interview, she's appealed for help, saying they're keeping her in the hospital against her will. He can't resist a beautiful woman, and so the two of them are very quickly on the run, with Laura trying to find her supposedly dead husband and Theo in love with Laura. While there is one major twist in this novel that comes out of the blue, the rest of it is just as predictable as is Shutter Island. The parallel is reinforced by the frame technique of having someone present this as memoirs (Dr. Charles Sheehan from the medical facility in Shutter Island, Nikonos in The Authenticator), with a letter to the reader as a preface. Examining the two letters will give the reader a number of clues as to why it is Lehane simply writes a better book than does Valtos; Lehane's language is more engaging. He's interested in hooking the reader and keeping him hooked. Valtos, on the other hand, knows a lot about a lot, and wants to make sure the reader knows it; there's no room for interpretation amidst the mini-lectures and spelling out of every salient point. The Authenticator does pick up in its last hundred pages, and is a readable book, but you'd be far better off with Shutter Island. ...(Continued in the Da Vinci Code review)
Rating:
Summary: Compelling from the very first page
Review: Ever had a book grab you in the first few paragraphs and never let you go until the end? That's what The Authenticator did for me. I breezed through almost 400 pages in about a day and a half. As a novelist forever on the learning-curve of my craft, I've become so analytical while reading fiction that I rarely have that "pure escape" a good novel can provide, but Mr. Valtos delivered it with this excellent story. Kudos to the author and to Hampton Roads for a first-class tale of suspense!
Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down
Review: I loved this book as much as his first book"Resurection". Having read many other books on "near death experiences", this is one of the best. I went to grade school and high school with the author, and the settings inthe book took me nostalgicaly to our home town. The characters and places made feel that I knew them personally. The last few chapters were gripping,and kept me up far past my bedtime.This is suspenseful and as good as you can get."Keep it going Billy"
Rating:
Summary: Regular Guy
Review: I met William and his wife Rose at a conversational German class. He told us he was an author so I thought I'd try his book. Actually I wasn't expecting much after all he wasn't anyone famous, just a regular guy I knew. I was surprised. The book is remarkably well done. Faced paced and never boring, with some suprising twists. I'm used to reading Stephen King and Nelson DeMille, and Mr. Valtos' writing skills in The Authenticator compares very favorably with those two excellent writers. Hello William, I hope you have a good trip to Europe. Wie Geyts Rose! Mike Lilly
Rating:
Summary: Regular Guy
Review: I met William and his wife Rose at a conversational German class. He told us he was an author so I thought I'd try his book. Actually I wasn't expecting much after all he wasn't anyone famous, just a regular guy I knew. I was surprised. The book is remarkably well done. Faced paced and never boring, with some suprising twists. I'm used to reading Stephen King and Nelson DeMille, and Mr. Valtos' writing skills in The Authenticator compares very favorably with those two excellent writers. Hello William, I hope you have a good trip to Europe. Wie Geyts Rose! Mike Lilly
Rating:
Summary: Original and deliciously creepy
Review: Just when you thought it couldn't be done, William M. Valtosintroduces a PI with a real difference. " 'I'd like to ask yousome questions about your death, if you don't mind,' " Theo Nikonos says, setting up his tape recorder by the bed of beautiful Laura Duquesne, drugged and confined in the basement of a private clinic. Laura died in surgery after the fiery car wreck which killed her husband. But 120 minutes later, she woke up in the hospital morgue. Theo, a former insurance investigator, fighting failure in his personal and professional life, investigates near-death experiences. Laura's amazingly detailed story justifies the risks he has taken breaking into the clinic. No one has ever brought back such lucid particulars from the other side. Of course, such textbook confirmation also raises suspicions. And Laura claims her husband is still alive which is simply impossible. One thing is clear. Laura is terrified of something and it's not death. Mild and tentative, Theo's determination is stoked by a savage beating. A tense and macabre rescue of Laura leads to love, mayhem and murder. But action and nail-biting suspense is as nothing compared to a revelation half way through the narrative that will leave the most jaded reader gasping in horror. Theo's earnest narration underscores the eerie feel of this fast-paced and original novel, sure to send new readers on a hunt for his first, "Resurrection," which was made into an HBO movie, "Almost Dead."
Rating:
Summary: Original and deliciously creepy
Review: Just when you thought it couldn't be done, William M. Valtosintroduces a PI with a real difference. " 'I'd like to ask yousome questions about your death, if you don't mind,' " Theo Nikonos says, setting up his tape recorder by the bed of beautiful Laura Duquesne, drugged and confined in the basement of a private clinic. Laura died in surgery after the fiery car wreck which killed her husband. But 120 minutes later, she woke up in the hospital morgue. Theo, a former insurance investigator, fighting failure in his personal and professional life, investigates near-death experiences. Laura's amazingly detailed story justifies the risks he has taken breaking into the clinic. No one has ever brought back such lucid particulars from the other side. Of course, such textbook confirmation also raises suspicions. And Laura claims her husband is still alive which is simply impossible. One thing is clear. Laura is terrified of something and it's not death. Mild and tentative, Theo's determination is stoked by a savage beating. A tense and macabre rescue of Laura leads to love, mayhem and murder. But action and nail-biting suspense is as nothing compared to a revelation half way through the narrative that will leave the most jaded reader gasping in horror. Theo's earnest narration underscores the eerie feel of this fast-paced and original novel, sure to send new readers on a hunt for his first, "Resurrection," which was made into an HBO movie, "Almost Dead."
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and educational as well as exciting
Review: The Authenticator, by William M. Valtos, crosses genres from mystery to romance to fantasy in a tale that delves into the possibility of near death experience (NDE). The Authenticator, the eponymous protagonist, is Theophanes Nikonos, a psychologist with a Ph.D. who is down on his luck and working for short money as a researcher for a Professor interested in NDE's. Theo is investigating a claim of an NDE by a car crash victim, Laura Duquesne, who returned to life after having been declared legally dead for one hour and twenty minutes. What starts out as a routine interview by the skeptical Theo turns into a dangerous, life-threatening pursuit of the truth behind the mysterious circumstances of the death of Laura's husband, Harrison, whom she claims didn't perish in the car accident, knowledge she gained in her visit to the "other side" during her NDE. Laura is convinced her husband is still alive, despite the existence of a corpse matching his medical description and an iron-clad coroner's confirmation, because when she "died" and experienced her NDE, she didn't see her husband amongst all her other dead relatives who greeted her. When Theo meets Laura, she is being held against her will in a rehabilitation clinic and she begs him to help her escape. Theo, convinced of the authenticity of her NDE and having begun to fall in love with her, rescues her from the clutches of her captors, and agrees to help her find her husband, whom she passionately loves and believes is still alive. The mystery deepens when people connected to the case begin turning up dead (one is murdered in Theo's apartment), and when Laura's captors pursue her. On the run with Laura, Theo learns more about the circumstances of the accident and about her husband's character, and becomes suspicious that he may be alive after all. He also wonders about the possible role Laura's NDE played in her captivity. With their own lives now in danger, Theo and Laura retrace the events of the fateful day of the car crash to try to unravel the mystery before they are both killed or Theo is arrested for murder. The Authenticator is an enjoyable and intriguing story, well-plotted and gripping. The book includes plenty of interesting information about NDE's as well as other psychological conditions, but towards the end its tone is excessively didactic. Another weakness, one that does not really harm the overall story but that is disappointing and annoying, is that Laura is portrayed as thoroughly gullible and naive, an empty vessel waiting for some man to fill her up. I prefer stronger female characters. The final chapters are a little heavy-handed and repetitive of information previously mentioned at the beginning of the book in the description of one of the characters' NDE. Finally, the plot suffers somewhat from predictability, but still provides pleasure as the reader awaits the inevitable twists and turns. Overall, the book was a substantive, satisfying read, and I would recommend it.
| 
